Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

This motion is of paramount importance, and I congratulate the member for Berowra for bringing it to the parliament's attention. There is a simple reality. In the two years since the October 7 attacks, we have seen an unprecedented rise in antisemitism in this country. It is an absolute tragedy that, of course, stains the history of our nation. But the reality is in the lived experiences of Jewish Australians, many of whom live within the federal electorate of Goldstein, the neighbouring federal electorate of Macnamara and, of course, throughout our great country. They have seen firsthand—and lived firsthand—the consequences of a failure of leadership that we have had, which started in this federal parliament and the Prime Minister's chair and so often through our state governments as well.

We heard these stories directly from members of the Jewish community recently at the launch of the book Ruptured at Glen Eira Town Hall. I was privileged to be at the launch and to have been given a copy of the book by the Union of Jewish Students during their recent leadership retreat in Canberra. In doing so, it goes through the stories and trauma of many of the local women in Goldstein and throughout Australia talking about their experiences since 7 October and how that trauma is not over. The tragic reality of antisemitism that started immediately after 7 October has not stopped. From the steps of Sydney Opera House, where we had this absurd debate about whether people who were supporting Hamas were saying 'Gas the Jews' or 'Where are the Jews?' The solution from this parliament, this government, this Prime Minister wasn't simply to condemn antisemitism, which is an absolute disgrace and a stain on our nation. It has led to a prolific outburst and outbreak of antisemitism that Australians are still living with today.

It then escalated and continued. We saw violent protests out the front of Central Shule Caulfield South, in the Goldstein electorate. We have seen graffiti, firebombing and, of course, the most explicit example of that at the Adass synagogue. We have seen it in east Melbourne as well as, of course, Miznon, in the city of Melbourne, where there have been attacks on restaurants, as there have been in the federal electorate of Wentworth as well.

At every point, the Jewish community has been screaming out about the rise of antisemitism, and their expectations have been that they want their government on their side. That is not an unreasonable expectation of any Australian. Yes, they want moral support and they want people to stand by them. Where there is an issue with the law, yes, of course there is a reasonable expectation to make sure that there is a change in law. But, more than anything else, they wanted the government to call out and show leadership, to know that the standard the Australian government, our Prime Minister and the rest of the government of the Commonwealth of Australia was prepared to walk past was a standard we were prepared to accept. We know the standard they were prepared to accept, and it's the reality that people are living with today.

The consequence is now clear. As the member for Berowra, shadow Attorney-General and my dear friend has outlined, it has led to a situation where, two years after the coalition called for the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist organisation, finally, on the advice of ASIO, the government has been dragged kicking and screaming to listing them as a terrorist organisation. But it's important to understand—while this is an important step two years too late, don't think it ends here. So many people are still living with the consequences of antisemitism—and will. I was speaking about this only recently, the other day at St Kilda shule. In particular, we often see that, in the outbreak of extremism that validates or gives a permissive environment for antisemitism, we see other types of degradation of other sections of the community. The expression so often used by the Jewish community is that they are the canary in the coalmine. We have seen extremism tolerated against the Jewish community. We have increasingly seen, particularly in Melbourne, a rise in homophobia as well. Unfortunately, we've seen come into the Goldstein office the twins of antisemitism and homophobia, but we are now seeing attacks of other sections of the community too.

This is the lived reality of what happens when we tolerate extremism and see a failure of leadership. It spreads. This is why good people need to stand up. We've continued to see it, from what happened in Juniper Salon in Bentleigh, in the electorate of Goldstein, sadly, where people simply seeking to get a haircut experienced antisemitism. We have a choice. We can be a country of harmony, respect, dignity and stability or continue to pay a price as a nation.

See this speech in context